Navigating Adulthood One Day At A Time

Aldajores De Maicena

Last week was one of our maintenance guys last week. He was moving to Argentina to be closer to his family. We all love Charley so in honor of this we did and Argentinian theme. I made Alfajores De Maicena (short bread cookies with dulce de leche sandwhiched in between. I added the chocolate drizzle.) It took 4 hours for the dulce de leche to cook and 6 hours total to assemble and bake!

Here is the recipe (like I said I drizzled mine with dark chocolate that was kind of a touch of my own):

2 sticks of butter at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg plus one yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1-2 cups dulce de leche (link to make your own, store-bought is also fine)

powdered sugar (optional)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar. Add in the egg plus yolk and vanilla and beat over medium speed until incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch and baking powder together. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and continue mixing until it forms a consistent dough.

Remove the dough from the mixer and divide the dough into two balls. Wrap the balls in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Unwrap the dough and roll it out (it will be cold and stiff at first) onto a floured surface. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness, then cut with a small round cutter (or a juice glass). Repeat the rolling and cutting until you have used all the dough. Place the cookies on a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet, and bake for 15 minutes, just until the edges start to brown.

Let the cookies cool completely, and then place a generous dollop of dulce de leche on one cookie, topping with another cookie to make a sandwich. Press gently together. Cover in sifted powdered sugar, if desired.

Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy bottom sauce pan. Add all other ingredients, being sure to stir the sugar with a whisk until it’s completely dissolved. (Otherwise, your Dulce de Leche will have a gritty consistency—not so good.) Cook on medium low until it turns into caramel, about 2-3 hours. It should have a rich tan or brown color and smooth texture when done. Consistency is a matter of taste-some like theirs runnier than others, but test it by spooning some onto the center of a plate. If it stays without running and making a puddle, it’s ready.